[sevenseventen]

Total comp as a metric is almost always used to exaggerate the amount of compensation by adding things to salary/rate.

- Pension/401k/profit sharing contributions - Employer contribution to health insurance/life insurance - Vacation/sick time compensation

These aren't nothing, and you do want to have it available for the basis of total-comp to total-comp across employers, but they're _not_ the same as direct comp.

The people quoted in the article are making the category error of comparing salary to total comp. If an engineer is making 170K in direct comp, they're almost certainly making _way more than that_ in total comp. Insurance might be 10K. Profit sharing/401k could be up to another 15%. Other fringe benefits like health club membership could be thousands of dollars. You people who get options -- that counts, too.